Ronaldo hopes to recover for Barcelona tie

Cristiano Ronaldo, who has already missed nine games and is out of action since Oct. 10 because of an ankle injury, hopes to recover by the 29th of this month for an important match against Barcelona.

Ronaldo said he was feeling better, had started to run and hoped to be with the squad next week, although he said there was no guarantee of his participation in the tie against Barcelona. He is due to visit Dutch specialist Professor Niek van Dijk to monitor his recovery.

FIFA player of the year Ronaldo, who has justified his £80 million cost with nine goals in seven matches so far has been dearly missed by his team Real Madrid, who lost embarrassingly to a third tier club Alcorcon in his absence by a margin of three goals.